I Love You, Baby
by lydiarmarks
Summary: Max and Victoria have been married for a little over a year and are living in their own house and have their own lives now. Kate and Chloe have adopted a baby boy named Matthew and Max is suddenly hit with baby fever. Vic is hit too, but she tries not to seem too excited. So, they plan to have a baby of their own.


**Author's Note: This turned into a really long oneshot about Max and Victoria having a baby. I hope you all enjoy and have an awesome day!**

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Victoria's POV

"He's so adorable!" Max squealed in excitement as Kate and Chloe got out of that old beat up truck that Chloe still hasn't gotten rid of. Kate was carrying a baby carrier with their newborn son in it. They had adopted him from some girl that Kate met outside of an abortion clinic. Apparently the girl had been crying and of course Kate (even though it made her late for work at the library just down the street from the clinic) went to talk to her and after they talked and Kate took her to tea, the girl decided that she would let Chloe and Kate have her baby after it was born.

Max was so excited that she didn't even wait for them to come to the door and ran outside, having seen them pull up through the window before. I followed her, smiling but extremely unsure. I had never been good with kids, even though I knew that I'd have them someday, I didn't like being around them. Max and I had never talked about having kids, though. We had gotten married a little over a year ago and had planned on traveling more, but Max's career had been taking off and I had become her manager so we were both a little too busy to travel at that time.

"Oh my god, you guys he's so cute," Max said excitedly, beaming down at the small child. He was barely two weeks old so he was so small that I was afraid he would break from a small breeze passing by.

"Isn't he?" Kate giggled, smiling down at the baby like he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. I felt a small warmth in my chest seeing her smiling like that.

"Come on inside," I said, motioning toward the house. When everyone was inside I got wine for Max and I, a beer for Chloe and a water for Kate. She still didn't drink despite being almost twenty six years old.

"Thank you for having us over, you guys," Kate said, taking the baby out of the carrier and holding him against her chest. Max had said that his name was Matthew, I think. He had little wisps of dark hair and brown eyes that were flicking from thing to thing in the room. His cheeks were so chubby, how did that even happen? I could sort of understand why Max would get so excited about babies, they were really cute, plus hormones and stuff. But I think one of the reasons why she'd been so excited about Matthew was because he was Kate and Chloe's baby which practically made him our nephew. The thought put a smile on my face.

"Of course," I replied, leaning back in my chair as I took a sip of wine.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Chloe added, giving me a polite smile. We still weren't the best of friends, but I respected her. She was a good friend to Max and made Kate happy and I'm sure that she was a good mother. She might not know exactly what she was doing all the time and she might've been sort of rude and absolutely insufferable on a good day, but she took care of the people that mattered to her. "We haven't really been out of the house much recently except for work. I was able to get time off to take care of Matt, but Kate hasn't been able to get much leave lately. Apparently libraries don't give maternity leave unless you actually give birth." I could tell that she was struggling not to curse because of the way she paused at certain times. It was kind of nice to see her trying so hard.

"We can always look after him if you guys have a lot of work to do," Max said with a smile, making me hide my smile behind my glass. She was so cute when she smiled like that, her eyes beaming, calm and good natured as usual. "Isn't that right, Tori?" She asked me, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Of course we can," I replied, giving her a smile before taking another sip of my wine. I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach all of a sudden, but I wasn't sure why. It was almost like I was expecting something to happen. But nothing happened for the rest of the night. We all just sat in the living room talking and laughing the way adults did when they all got together after a bit of time apart. I had really missed hanging out with them, more than I'd expected to, anyway.

It was pretty late when they left and Max was still cooing over Matthew when they were gone. We were washing the dishes we'd used, I was rinsing and she was drying, sitting up on the counter with a white wash cloth in her hands. She was wringing it between her fingers like she was thinking really hard about something. I looked up at her from the wine class I was washing to see her staring hard at the plate she was drying.

"Is there something wrong with the plate or are you just thinking about something super depressing?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. She let out a small laugh and shook her head, setting the plate down with the cloth and wiping her face with her hands. She did that sometimes when she was stressed about something, I guess it calmed her down, helped her reset herself in a way.

"I was just thinking," she said softly, staring off into space again, smiling a little. I furrowed my brow, tilting my head to the side questioningly.

"About what?" I asked, setting the now washed wine glass next to her. She picked up the cloth and then the glass, drying the dish in a thoughtful way, like she was stalling. She shrugged, finally setting the glass down on top of the earlier discarded plate. I sighed and dried off my hands, turning off the faucet and taking a few steps forward so that I was standing right in front of her, my waist between her legs and my hands on her hips. "Come on, spit it out, Caulfield." She looked down at me with a small smirk.

"I thought I was a Chase now," she retorted, still avoiding the question. I rolled my eyes.

"You are, except for when you're being such a pussy and not telling me what's on your mind," I replied jokingly, running my hands up and down her sides, tracing her curves with my fingers. She'd gotten a little curvier since high school, but she was still skinny as hell and so petite that sometimes I was scared that I'd break her.

"I thought you liked pussy," she replied with a grin and kissed me. I felt a wave of warmth rush over me as her lips met mine and my knees went weak. When she pulled away I let out a sigh, my eyes opening slowly as I savored the feeling.

"You're really good at dancing around a subject, you know that?" I asked, somewhat breathless. We'd been sort of busy lately so we hadn't had very much alone time. I was honestly surprised that I hadn't jumped her as soon as we were alone. But now I was seriously considering it.

"If we have a little fun will you let it go?" she asked seductively, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'll be top if you want. Maybe take charge a little?" God she knew me too well. I liked being in control but I loved when Max played the more dominant role sometimes. Even if she was a little clumsy most of the time.

"But I'm so curious," I whined, tugging at her t shirt. "Come on, babe. Tell me and I'll let you do whatever you want to me." I said softly, reaching up to bite her barely exposed collar bone. I loved playing this game with her, but I was also legitimately concerned. She looked really serious about whatever she was thinking. She moaned softly, tilting her head back as I kissed her neck. "Come on, Maxine." I said her name in the way I knew she liked me to, low and soft, hummed against her skin. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"I don't even remember anymore," she said breathlessly, her fingers tangled in my hair. "I think my brain is melting." I resisted the urge to chuckle and pulled away, unable to hold in my smirk when Max protested, grabbing at my shirt. "Ok, ok, fine! Then can we do the fun stuff? We haven't done it in so long." God, I loved when she sounded so desperate. It made me feel powerful.

"Three days?" I asked, giggling. "That's not that long." Except it was, but it was fun to tease her. She pouted, wrapping her arms around my neck again.

"Pretty please?" She asked pleadingly, her big blue eyes tearing down my resistance. I giggled and nodded, kissing her.

"Ok," I replied, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Alright, spill. What's on your mind?" She let out a sigh, obviously organizing her thoughts. She looked nervous, her fingers twirling a strand of my hair behind my head as she thought of what to say next.

"Well, you know how Kate and Chloe have Matthew and everything?" She asked hesitantly, not meeting my eyes. My eyebrows quirked up a little and that weird feeling I'd had in the pit of my stomach came back.

"Yeah?" I asked, sort of nervous. What was she getting at?

"Well, I was thinking that maybe… Maybe we could…" she paused and shook her head, chuckling. "God, this is stupid." My brows furrowed and I frowned a little, bumping my forehead against hers a little.

"Hey, it's ok, what is is?" I asked, sort of knowing where this was going but wanting her to get through her thoughts on her own.

"Would you maybe want to have a baby?" She asked softly, still not looking at me. I felt my heart racing in my chest when she spoke. I hadn't thought about it too much in the past but I had to admit that seeing Kate and Chloe with Matthew did bring up some feelings that I hadn't really experienced much before. I cleared my throat, trying to think of something to say.

"Do you want to?" I asked, my voice coming out a little shaky. I wasn't against the idea, but it was scary nonetheless. There was a bit of a pause before she looked up at me again. She nodded and smiled a little.

"Yeah," she whispered, like it was some sort of secret. But her eyes were shining a little, excitement evident on her face. I couldn't help smiling back at her, pulling her close.

"Me too," I said softly, so nervous that I thought my heart might explode. "But maybe we should think it over a little first. Wait for the baby magic left by little Matthew to wear off a little." She giggled, nodding.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she replied, kissing me and then hugging me tight. "Maybe a shower would help us process?" She asked suggestively, smirking at me. I giggled, helping her down from the counter top.

"Sounds perfect."

So we slept on it for awhile, maybe a week or two. Max only brought it up once or twice, not wanting to make me feel pressured, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I never brought it up because I didn't want to seem like I was pressuring Max or making her think that I was desperate to have kids. I mean, I wanted kids and the idea of having a baby with Max was something that I really wanted, but it would be a lot of work. It would also be expensive, but we didn't have to worry about that. My parents would be all over the idea of their gay daughter having a baby with her wife because it would be good for their reputation. I had spent a bit of time thinking and, in my head at least, I had thought that the best route would be this bone marrow thing that scientists were studying would be a good way to go. They had advanced their research quite a bit and plus that would mean that the baby actually looked like Max and I, our genetics making another, littler human being.

The idea made me so happy that I could barely contain myself, but I didn't bring it up to Max. Well, that is until Kate and Chloe asked us to babysit Matthew so that they could have a date night. He stayed with us until the next day and it was actually really nice. He wasn't genetically related to Kate but I could've sworn that he had her personality. Was that even genetic? Whatever, it was nice and Max was practically glowing the whole time. I had never known that she liked children so much, but it made me happy to see her so happy. Plus, I did kind of like taking care of Matthew, even though it would be a lot different having my own baby because I wouldn't be able to just pass it on to someone else the next day. But that didn't really scare me as much as it had before.

After Kate came over to pick up Matthew, Max sat down at her desk to look over some photos that she'd taken. She still used polaroid, but she used digit for quite a few of her most recent collections. I walked into the room we had designated as our office and walked up behind her, kissing her cheek before moving to lean against the desk.

"Hey, beautiful," I said with a smile on my face. I couldn't contain myself anymore. I was so excited that I barely knew how to explain myself. Max gave me a suspicious look and chuckled.

"Hey, babe," she replied, leaning back in her chair. "What's up?" I smiled, looking down at the floor.

"Well, I was thinking about that thing we talked about a couple weeks ago and I think we should do it," I said quickly, unable to steady my words before they escaped me. Max's eyes widened, staring at me with that deer in the headlights look. I cleared my throat and looked away from her, trying to act a little more nonchalant. "I was just thinking that it would be nice. Babies are cute and having a family is something that lots of people want."

"But is it what you want?" She asked, making me lock my gaze with hers. I paused, realizing that it was. I had never wanted something like that before, but when I thought about having a family with Max, it just felt right.

"Yeah," I said softly, smiling. "It is. But only if it's what you want too." Max laughed softly and stood, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me close.

"Of course I want to make a family with you, Tori," she whispered, like it was some kind of secret or something that needed to be treasured. I giggled, kissing her tenderly, my arms around her waist as I pulled her close.

"Good because I already have a plan," I said, only half joking. She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Of course you do," she replied, kissing me softly. "What's your plan?" I swallowed hard, suddenly realizing that all of the things I'd been thinking about were going to be out in the air. They were going to become actual words instead of just thoughts jumping around in my mind. What if Max didn't like my plan? Was it really even a plan?

"Well, you know that bone marrow thing that's been being studied and all that?" I asked, not sure how to explain it. I just hoped that she knew what I was talking about. She paused before opening her mouth a little and nodding.

"Ooohhh, that," she said in realization. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. You wanna use that?" She asked, looking up at me with a curious look in her eyes.

"Yeah, I mean if you want to," I said quickly, way more nervous than I thought I'd be. "I just thought that maybe we could, you know, have a baby that was part of both of us." Max nodded slowly, thinking it over.

"Who did you think would carry it?" She asked, searching my eyes. I hadn't really thought about that. I had more just thought about talking to Max about it. I didn't think it would get this far.

"Well, I don't know, I hadn't thought of that," I replied, thinking through the possibilities. If Max wanted one of us to do it, which I would've prefered, than we'd have to pick between the two of us. I had never really imagined myself being pregnant, but I had assumed it would happen someday. But I didn't want Max to feel like she had to do it. "What do you think?" I asked, trying to look more confident than I felt. She paused, letting out a soft sigh.

"Well, I could do it," she said softly. I couldn't tell what she was feeling because she wasn't looking at me. Tilting her chin up so that her eyes met mine, I still couldn't read her expression.

"Are you sure?" I asked, unsure of what else to say. I didn't want her to feel like I wasn't as willing to do it as she was, because I was willing. It just sounded scary. She smiled a little and nodded, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said softly, letting out a small laugh. "But you have to do it next time."

"Next time?" My voice cracked a little as I spoke, making Max laugh and kiss me.

"God, you don't have to sound so terrified," she giggled, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "We'll go to the doctor this week and make a plan, ok?" I nodded, unable to stop myself from smiling.

"Ok," I said softly, leaning down to kiss her again, an excitement filling my chest that I hadn't really felt before. It was familiar but also so different from how I'd ever felt before. It was nicer than I thought it'd be.

So we went to our doctor and talked the plan over. He told us that we would be one of the first couples to use it since it had only just recently become an option that was open to the public. And by open to the public, he meant that it was an option for the people who had money. Which just so happened to be me and my parents. He told us that the risks were minimal and that some of the only risks either of us would face were routine and could be easily avoided. Since I was the one giving my bone marrow, he made a biopsy appointment and gave me all of the instructions I would need to follow to prepare for the procedure. Then we made an appointment for Max to see an OBGYN after my marrow was tested.

It was all sort of dizzying, really. All the doctor's appointments and procedure we had to follow, but it all went fairly smoothly. I handled most of the doctor stuff since Max always seemed to get anxious whenever she had to talk to someone who was a nurse or a doctor. She got that way when she had to go to the bank or buy lots of groceries. She had told me that she wasn't sure why but when she wasn't sure what she was doing, she'd start panicking in her head and it got hard to concentrate and she couldn't really process what was happening. It was strange, but I went with it, only having her talk to the doctors if I was with her because at least then I'd be there to help a little.

When my biopsy came around, Max came with me. The instructions had said that I should bring someone to give me a ride home since I might be put under some pain meds if I was nervous. I mean, I was nervous, but not because I was about to get bits of my insides sucked out. To be fair, that was a scary thought, but I was more nervous because we had actually started this. There was still a chance that maybe my marrow would be no good or maybe Max wouldn't be able to carry or something like that, but with all that aside, we had actually started making another person. Well, almost. It was just a nerve racking idea.

"You sure you're gonna be ok?" Max's worried voice pulled me back to earth, putting her hand on my knee as we sat in the hospital waiting room. I sighed, turning to smile at her, but I wasn't sure if it worked.

"Yeah, I'll be ok," I replied, putting my hand on top of hers and squeezing a little. "It's just a needle, nothing too bad. Plus, I'll be all numbed up, so I won't feel a thing." That was a lie. The skin around the area where they would be putting the needle would be numbed, but you couldn't numb the inside of my bones. I had read that some patients would experience some mild pain or discomfort, but I wasn't too worried. All I knew was that it was going to happen and I was so happy that it was making me nervous. Was I supposed to be this happy?

"Do you want me to come in with you?" She asked, her eyes locked with mine. "I mean, it might help calm you down, you know? I don't want to you be super nervous. I know I'd be extremely nervous if it were me going in there. I've always hated needles." I chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"That's why I'm the one getting a needle poked into my bone and you're the one making the tiny person," I said softly, smiling at her. She really was so amazing to be doing this. What I was doing really wouldn't take all that long and the effects of it would wear off within a couple weeks. But Max would have another person growing inside of her for nine whole months. I smiled at her, trying to reassure her. "Everything's going to be just fine, ok? We'll take it all one step at a time with some planning ahead of time." She smiled back, looking a little more relaxed. It was sweet that she was so worried about me, but this whole thing was routine. People got bone marrow biopsies all the time.

"Victoria Chase?" A nurse called from down the hallway. Max and I stood and I kissed her, smiling as I pulled away.

"I'll be back soon, ok?" I said and turned to walk down the hall, wishing that I'd taken Max up on her offer to come with me as my heart started racing a little.

"I'll be here," Max called after me. I could practically feel her holding her elbow, rubbing up and down her arm nervously as she watched me walk down the hall. When I followed the nurse and we rounded a corner, I turned back to wink at Max before following the nurse into a well lit room with one of those bed/chair things they always had in doctor's offices. They had me change into a hospital gown before having me lay on my side on the bed/chair thing. They had decided to take the marrow from my hip instead of my chest which was nice. I could hide a scar on my hip with relative ease. I didn't really have any scars. I had never done anything to get them. Max had lots of scars, just tiny ones from when she was a kid or when her and Chloe had gone skateboarding and Max had lost her balance. They told stories about her life. My skin didn't have many imperfections and the ones I found I kept hidden from most people. Everyone except Max, really.

I kept these thoughts rolling through my mind to distract me from the procedure. They numbed the area, made a small incision to help the needle go through without much resistance, and took a bit of my marrow. It didn't hurt, really, it just felt really weird. When it was done, they covered the incision and instructed me to keep it dry for 24 hours and had me get changed, sending me to another room to rest for a little while. It was a lot like giving blood, you felt kinda weird after. They let Max come in and see me and she sat with me while we waited. She held my hand and kept kissing me on the cheek, saying soft things that I don't really remember because I was too consumed in the way her voice sounded as she spoke.

We stopped to pick up lunch on the way home. Max got Chick Fil A and I got Natural Cafe. Then we went home and laid in bed watching movies despite my weak protests that eating in bed would make crumbs. I fell asleep at some point, but Max took care of the trash and made sure that everything was semi clean. I guess she had been listening to my crumbs thing because she washed the sheets the next day when I was on the phone with my mom.

"Hey, babe," I called from the living room, putting in an address on my GPS.

"Yeah?" She called back, walking down the hall.

"My parents want to meet us for dinner tonight," I said as I set my phone on the couch. "Is that ok?" She got that look on her face that she always got when I asked her if she wanted to do something that she obviously didn't want to do, but it was a little more subtle today. Her brows weren't as harshly pressed together and her jaw wasn't as tense.

"What do they want to talk about that you guys couldn't talk about on the phone?" She asked. I didn't blame her for not wanting to see my parents. They were jerks to her and I really didn't want to bring her with me to the dinner because I knew that she wouldn't have a good time. Plus, I hated how cruel my parents were to her. It wasn't right and it reminded me of how I'd treated her when we were in high school.

"They want to talk about the whole baby thing," I replied, plumping a pillow that was on the couch so that I wouldn't have to look at the way her face got all sad or annoyed or whatever she felt. "I'm sorry, I know it sucks, but hey, free food." I looked up to see Max smiling a little, her eyes soft as she watched me. "What's that face for?"

"You're just so cute when you're worried," she said with a giggle. I blushed and cleared my throat.

"Well, I know that you don't really like hanging around them and I don't want them to insult you like they did last time -" She interrupted my rambling by kissing me softly, grabbing gently at my hair. I let out a soft groan, letting the tension I'd felt melt away. When she pulled away, she trailed her fingers down my cheek, then my shoulder and my arm until she took my hand.

"It's fine, Tori," she said gently. "I really have a feeling that they'll be a bit nicer now. I mean, I'm gonna be having your baby, they have to at least be civil, right?" I couldn't stop myself from smiling a little. "When I married you I promised to be around no matter what. Which includes being around when your parents want to talk to us. I know I haven't really been great about going with you when they want to meet up and I'm sorry for that, but I'm going to try to do better now."

"Max, you don't have to apologize," I replied, feeling my brows furrow. "You didn't do anything wrong. The only reason I still go out to see them is so that they'll help pay for things like what we've decided to do."

"Tori, they're your parents," Max said softly. "I know that they might not be the best, but we have to put up with them for more than just their money." I chuckled and nodded, looking down.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I replied, pulling her in for a hug. She leaned into me and I let out a sigh.

"Of course I am, I'm always right," she replied jokingly, squeezing me a little. We stood there for a little while, just enjoying the warmth and comfortable silence. Eventually, though, we had to get ready for dinner and leave. I wore one of my more professional dresses, deciding that maybe if I looked responsible then they wouldn't grill me about how I wasn't prepared to be a parent. I wore my gold bracelet and a couple other accessories, trying to look good, but not too flashy. I decided on a dark red lipstick, still wanting to call a little bit of attention to myself. Making sure my hair was perfect, I helped Max pick out shoes. She was wearing a simple blue dress with a gold necklace I'd bought her for our first anniversary. We managed to find an old pair of black flats that Max hadn't worn in forever, but they still fit her and they went with the dress so it worked. I did her make up for her, making it look as natural as possible. Max didn't look good with all of that crazy stuff, she just needed a little something to highlight her features. I decided to let her off on the whole lip gloss thing because she hated having stuff on her lips, especially when we were going out to eat.

When we got to the restaurant, Max almost immediately tensed up. I hadn't taken her to many fancy restaurants because it felt weird. Like we had to be different people. It just reminded me of when I was younger and how I had always had to be all uptight. Max had just always felt out of place in restaurants that had more than one type of fork. I didn't blame her really, places like this were unbelievably pretentious and old fashioned. I would've thought twice about coming to a place like this if I had the choice of where we were going to eat, but I wasn't the one paying nor was I the one who had wanted this dinner to happen to begin with. I locked arms with Max, standing up tall as we walked over to the host.

"Miss Chase," he greeted me, giving me a nod. "How good to see you again. Party of two?"

"It's actually Mrs. Chase now," I corrected, unable to stop myself. I wanted to see the look on his face. His mouth dropped open a little, but he quickly composed himself.

"Oh, well, congratulations," he said with a fake smile and a nod to Max who had started blushing and was probably resisting the urge to hide behind me. "Would you two like a table?"

"My parents are actually meeting us here. Have they arrived yet?" I asked, giving Max's arm a quick squeeze with my hand to hopefully reassure her a little.

"Ah, yes, right this way." He grabbed two menus and walked us to a table right next to one of the giant windows overlooking the city. The table was sort of separate from the rest, but not so much so that most people would notice. Both of my parents were there, which surprised me. I had expected my dad to be away at some meeting or something that probably seemed much more important than whatever it was they wanted to say to us now.

My mom had a glass of red wine her hand and was swirling it around in her glass impatiently, the perfectly manicured nails of her other hand tapping against the white table cloth that covered the hardwood table. I had gotten most of my looks from my mom. The blond hair and light skin, impatient tendencies and most of my expectations, tall and lean even though she was older than most people would guess. Most people mistook me for her if they didn't take a close look. The only differences between us were my green eyes and the way my jaw tightened. I got those from my dad. His hair was mostly gray now, a few streaks of brown barely visible. He was a broadly built man, his square jaw and stern eyes making most people shrink beneath him like they were nothing. He was taking a sip of his scotch, letting it settle on his tongue before swallowing it. He always did that when he was trying to calm himself. Well, drink, not just savor the drink. They were both wearing fancy clothes just like Max and I, but they were dressed a little nicer. My dad was actually wearing a suit, but I shouldn't have been surprised. He always wore a suit. Mom was wearing a shimmering blue dress that hugged her curves and made her look younger than she was. I wondered if I'd be able to look immortal too.

When we got close, the host set the menus in the two extra seats before walking off. They both stood and, much to my surprise, both gave me hugs in turn, doing the same to Max. My mom gave me one of those weak hugs that didn't last very long, but she was trying, and she kissed me on the cheek before moving on to Max, greeting her with a smile.

"You both look beautiful," she said with a smile that made my skin crawl. There was definitely something up here. Dad kissed my cheek and gave me a tight squeeze.

"Yes, you both look very nice," he said as he hugged Max, who looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Thank you," I said, pulling out Max's chair for her as my parents sat down again. Max took her seat and fiddled with her dress for a moment, straightening it.

"Yes," she said softly, smiling nervously. "Thank you. And thank you for inviting us to such a nice place." They always invited people out. We only had people over to our actual house for parties. Restaurants were for business, that way if people got uncomfortable or a deal went sour, they could just get up and leave.

"Oh, don't think anything of it, Maxine," my mom said, still smiling as she took a sip of her wine. "You two can order whatever you want, of course. I've heard that the duck here is delicious." God, I already felt like ripping my own hair out. What was up with them?

"I've never had duck before," Max said with a small laugh. "But I'd have to guess that it doesn't taste too fowl." I stifled a laugh, hiding my smile behind my glass of water. My parents both had confused looks on their faces because of the way Max was smiling like she'd just told the best joke ever. When she saw the looks on their faces, she shrank down into her seat a little, swallowing hard. "Nevermind." I felt my heart sink a little, setting my glass down and kissing her cheek.

"No, that was a good one, babe," I said with a smile, squeezing her hand a little. "My parents just don't really get puns."

"Oh, that was a pun?" My mom asked, her voice going high with faked interest. "Do you like telling jokes, Maxine?"

"It's Max, mom," I corrected her, getting a small squeeze on my knee from Max.

"It's ok, I don't mind being called by my full name," she said with a smile, her hand still on my knee. "Please feel free to call me either, Mrs. Chase." My parents still didn't let her, or most people, call them by their first names. It was just one of the rude things they did that made my blood boil.

"Well, if they can call you Maxine then you can call them Amanda and John, isn't that right?" I asked, giving my parents a look. They looked back at me with wide eyes before looking at each other and then back to Max. My dad took a sip of his scotch, nodding as he pretended to admire the view.

"Yes, of course," mom said, giving Max another fake smile. I really wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

"Thank you, but I really don't mind," Max replied, kicking me a little. Why was she acting like this? "I totally understand that you two just deserve the respect of being called by your last names. It's really not that big of a deal." That actually got a genuine smile out of my mom, but my dad had blocked us all out.

"That's very sweet of you, Maxine, but really, you can call us by our first names. You are our daughter now, after all," she said, actually smiling. Like a sincere smile. What the fuck was going on? The waiter came by to take our drink order before I could say anything, much to Max's relief probably. I ordered a glass of wine even though I wanted something stronger and Max ordered a lemonade, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oh, the doctor recommended that I try not to drink for a little while to help with conception." She trailed off at the end of her sentence, realizing what she was saying. She swallowed hard, laughing nervously. I smiled softly and rubbed her arm, trying to help. This whole situation was just so awkward. She smiled at me and took my hand in hers, kissing my fingers before setting my hand on her lap. My heart raced a little. Maybe I could… No, no way! My parents were right there and we were in public. But she could use her napkin to cover her lap a little and we were sitting so close to each other that it might go unnoticed if Max could keep her cool. I know that she hadn't set my hand there to be suggestive, she was trying to find some sort of calm amongst this cluster fuck of embarrassment. She really wasn't doing too bad on the whole impressing my parents thing, though.

"So you're really considering going through with… That whole thing?" My mom asked, her words making me cringe. Why was she saying it like that?

"No, we are going through with it," I replied firmly, trying to keep my cool. It was just really difficult in that moment. My parents had always set me on edge, especially my mom. She had been trying to talk me out of being with Max since I had first told them about her. "We've thought about it a lot and we both think that it's a good idea. Right, Max?" She had that deer in the headlights look on her face again, her mouth hanging open for a second as she nodded at me before turning back to my mom.

"Yes, we are going through with it," she said, sitting up a little. Her hand was wrapped around mine which was still on her lap. I tried to ignore the rising heat in my cheeks, returning to the moment at hand. Mom had this weird look on her face. Like she was trying to hide her disgust.

"Now, Victoria, you know that your father and I support you in this relationship, but don't you think this is a little far?" She asked, leaning forward on the table a little, lowering her voice so that only the people at the table could hear.

"Amanda -" dad tried to cut in, but I beat him to it.

"What do you mean too far?" I asked, letting my anger creep into my voice.

"Well, you know, this really can't last, can it?" She asked. I was so angry that I was pretty sure I was seeing red a little. I stood, shoving my chair away from the table, letting it crash to the floor.

"So that's what this is all about," I shouted, balling my hands into fists. "You invited my wife and I here so that you could talk us out of having a baby? What kind of sickos are you? You've been trying to talk me out of being with Max ever since I came out and now that we're married and happy and want to start a family, you have the audacity to try and tell me that this can't last? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Victoria, you're making a scene," mom said, staying seated. Max got up and took my hand.

"Tori, please calm down," she said nervously. "They're just concerned for you."

"No, I'm done," I growled, pointing a finger at my mom. "We are done here, do you understand me? Never speak to me again." I grabbed Max's hand, leading her out of the restaurant. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

We drove home in silence for awhile. I kept feeling Max stare at me as we sped down the road. I hadn't had anything to drink so she let me drive, even though I knew that she was scared. I felt her staring at me and sighed. My whole body was tense. I felt like I was going to cry and I knew that if I spoke then I wouldn't be able to hold back. We finally pulled into the driveway and I threw the car into park. I was about to get out of the car when Max grabbed my hand. I froze in my seat, shaking a little. I was still angry, but I was also tired and done.

"Tori," she said my name so softly that it made my insides melt. "Are you ok?" I swallowed hard, my free hand clutching the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

"I just don't understand why they have to be so… so rude and cruel to you," I said shakily, my voice cracking a little. "I hate it, I don't know how to prove to them that this is going to last. I don't know how to prove to them that what I feel for you is real and not just some fuck up in my head or something." I looked up at her and she had tears in her eyes, but she had a smile on her face, her features calm. She pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek, squeezing me gently.

"You don't have to prove anything to them, Tori," she whispered, rubbing circles into my back. I let out a sob, tears falling from my eyes. My chest hurt and it felt a little like I'd fucked up. "Everything's going to be ok. I promise. I'm not leaving you no matter what happens." I held onto her tight, letting myself cry for a few minutes. It felt good to get it all out, but I got the shoulder of Max's dress all wet and gross. She just laughed and lead me into the house. We took a shower and she helped me bandage up the incision again after cleaning and drying it. We crawled into bed, snuggling and falling asleep in each other's arms. So what if my parents didn't support this? It was happening whether they were around or not. I had quite a bit of money saved up so I knew that it would be enough and I'd still have a bit left over. Plus, it was time that I stopped relying on my parent's money and started relying on myself.

A week or two passed before we got a call from the doctor's office. Max was out having tea with Kate so I was home. Chloe had come over and had brought little Matt along with her, saying that the three of us could all hang out and have some fun together. I had never really associated Chloe Price with the idea of fun that I was into, but that was fine. She was at least somewhat tolerable now since she had to tone down her crazy behavior around Matthew. Chloe was sitting cross legged on the floor, making funny faces at Matthew, who was laying down on his back on the floor. He was only three weeks old now so he couldn't lift his head on his own or smile about things, but he had what they call a reflex smile. It was basically a survival thing, not because they thought what they saw was funny or it made them happy. Well, I don't know, maybe it did make him happy to see Chloe making silly faces.

"So, Max told me about what happened with your parents," Chloe commented, taking Matthew's feet in her hands and moving them back and forth gently while leaning down to nibble his toes. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Yeah, it… definitely wasn't expected," I replied, keeping my answer dry. Chloe didn't take her eyes off of Matthew, but she spoke like she was looking me dead in the eye.

"Don't worry, if they really care about you then they'll get over it and come apologize," she said, picking Matthew up and holding him against her so that his chin was resting on her shoulder. "And if they don't, then whatever. Kate and I could always take over as your official parental units." She gave me an impish grin and I couldn't help laughing a little at the thought.

"Thanks, but I think I'm old enough to support myself without a guardian," I replied, leaning back against the backrest of the couch I was sitting in. Chloe got up from the floor and sat down next to me, ruffling my hair.

"Aw, my baby's growing up so fast," she joked, laughing a little. I rolled my eyes, unable to keep a smile off my face. Chloe stood, holding Matthew out to me. "Hey, can you hold him for a sec? I gotta take a leak." I tensed up a little, my brow furrowing. I had only held him a couple times before. But I nodded and held out my hands. "Thanks, man! You rock." She set him gently into my arms, leaving to walk down the hall. He was so small but his eyes were big and brown as he stared up at me. I cleared my throat and held him as gently as I could. I didn't want to break him but I didn't want to drop him either.

"Hi," I said nervously, unsure of what to do. "So, my name's Victoria, but I guess you could call me Aunt Tori if you really wanted to. Or Aunt Vicky. But that makes me sound old so don't call me that." He just stared up at me, his eyes wide as he watched my face. He had a little green binky in his mouth and it bobbed up and down as he sucked on it. He let out a tiny little baby sigh and I giggled a little. "Tired of me already, huh? Trust me, this isn't really my thing. If your Aunty Max was here, she'd know exactly what to do. She's a wiz with little people."

My phone started ringing so I grabbed it off of the coffee table and looked down at the number. It was my doctor's office.

"Oh my god," I breathed, looking from my phone to Matthew who was still staring at me. "I should probably get this." He gave me no response, still just looking at me. I sighed and answered the call, trying to keep my leg from bouncing. "Hello?" I asked, trying to calm myself.

"Hello, Mrs. Chase? This is Doctor Miller, I was just calling about your bone marrow samples," his voice was kind of annoying over the phone.

"Yes, of course, is there something wrong with them?" I asked nervously, standing but still holding Matthew close. He grabbed at my necklace tugging at it a little. I held the phone between my ear and shoulder, looking down and taking the necklace out of his tiny, surprisingly strong hands. "That's not for you, silly," I whispered.

"No, nothing wrong at all, I was calling to tell you that you and your wife should come in for a follow up either tomorrow or the day after so that we can talk a little about the tests we'll be doing to make sure your wife is able to carry," he said, his voice grinding on my ears a little. Matthew let out a whining sound and I sighed, looking down to see his big brown eyes looking up at me. I felt my insides melting, shifting his position in my arms so that he was close to me, his chin resting on my shoulder the way Chloe had held him. How long did it take for one person to pee? She better not have been taking a dump in my bathroom or snooping through my stuff.

"Yes, of course, we can come in tomorrow," I told him, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder again, patting Matthew's back while bouncing just a little the way I'd seen Kate do before. It always seemed to calm him down.

"Perfect. How does 10:30am sound?" He asked. I heard Chloe walk up behind me. I turned around and she motioned to take Matthew and I handed him over, sort of reluctantly.

"That sounds good to me, Doctor Miller, thank you so much," I said, hanging up the phone. Chloe was looking at me expectantly, gently swaying back and forth with Matthew in her arms.

"What was that about?" She asked, grinning at me. I ran my fingers through my hair and sat back down on my couch.

"That's none of your business," I replied nonchalantly. "And you better not have been snooping through my stuff while you were in there. You took forever and now I'm suspicious."

"What, a lady can't look through her friend's medicine cabinet?" She asked, obviously trying to get on my nerves.

"Shut it, Price. I don't want to tell you off in front of your own kid," I retorted, crossing one leg over the other. I smiled to myself, letting out a breathe. I couldn't wait to tell Max.

So we went to next appointment and Miller gave us the rundown. Basically it would be a normal appointment so the tests would only take a couple of days. The appointment was two days later and it went pretty well. Max was totally fine and the doctor didn't really do much that I wouldn't have done to Max anyway. Except for maybe that bare down thing. That was a little weird, but valid I guess. After we got out, I took Max to get frozen yogurt because she looked so mortified the whole time she was laying in that bed. I teased her a little, talking about the first time we ever slept together and she punched me in the arm and told me to shut up. She was so cute when she was flustered, but I let her off the hook.

When the tests finally came back from Max's appointment, we went back and they told us that they would need a sample of Max's eggs to start the process. The next week or so was spent with the both of us on edge, hoping that this would work. When they were finally able to implant the eggs, Max was so nervous that she looked like she would shake out of her own skin. After that appointment, all we could really do was wait for a week.

One night, I got home from a day at the magazine I'd recently gotten hired at to hear someone crying in the back of the house near the bathroom. I set my purse down on the entry hall table and walked down the hall to the bathroom. The door was closed so I knocked softly, not wanting to scare Max.

"Max?" I called through the door when there was no answer. "Babe, it's me. Are you ok?" I heard sniffling and footsteps and Max opened the door, holding a pregnancy test in her hand. She looked like she had only just started crying, so at least she hadn't been waiting there for me to get home for a long time. I felt nervousness rising in my chest. Why was she crying? Had something happened? "What's wrong? Did something bad happen? Are you ok?" I was talking fast, taking her hands and looking her over. There was no blood, the doctor had said to make sure that there was no more than spotting, so no blood was good.

Max pulled me from my thoughts, holding the pregnancy test up for me to look at. I took it from her hand and looked at it. There were two pink lines, meaning that the test was positive. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open a little. I looked up at Max who was smiling like she'd just heard some of the best news of her life. I felt my heart swelling in my chest and tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn't stop smiling and I was laughing a little.

"We're gonna have a baby?" I said quietly and Max nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. I let out a laugh and hugged her tight, trying not to cry. "Oh my god, Max. We're having a baby!" She laughed and hugged me back, hugging me so tight that it hurt a little.

"We're having a baby," she said softly, smiling as uncontrollably as I was. I kissed her, setting the test on the counter and holding her close. I pulled away a little, suddenly realizing that I probably shouldn't squeeze her too tight.

"How do you feel? Why were you crying?" I was so full of questions, so excited and scared and happy and it was all so amazing that I didn't know what to do with myself.

"I was just so relieved," she said with a giggle, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "I was so scared that it wouldn't work that I just burst into tears when I saw that it was positive because I didn't know what else to do." I laughed softly and kissed her gently, smiling like a big dork.

"You're so incredible, Max," I said, wiping away a tear from her cheek. "Thank you so much for doing this. For sticking by me even through my weird plan and my crazy parents and everything. Just, thank you so much." She smiled up at me and kissed me, letting her lips linger on mine for a little while. It made my knees feel a little like jelly.

"You helped too, you know," she said with a giggle. I smirked and shrugged, blushing a little.

"What's a little bone marrow compared to a whole uterus?" I asked, joking a little to make her smile again.

"The difference between making another human and me being on my period again," she replied, laughing. I laughed and shook my head.

"Well I'm glad I was here then, otherwise you'd be begging for chocolate ice cream and cuddles while also telling me to fuck off by now." I joked, brushing a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. She laughed and rolled her eyes and then paused. "What?" I asked nervously.

"Well, I don't know about the ice cream, but cuddles do sound good right now," she said suggestively, pressing up against me. My eyes widened a little and I felt my heart starting to race.

"It sounds like you want more than just cuddles," I replied, blushing.

"Shut up and get in the bedroom so I can watch you strip," she whispered, smacking my ass. I yelped, making my way to the bedroom.

The first month or so was all nausea and having to only eat certain foods when Max wasn't around. We bought way too many pregnancy books at some point and I was usually reading one, or even multiple, whenever I could. Max read them too, but not as much as I did. We decided to turn the guest room into the nursery at some point. Since the process we used only made other girls, we had to try and pick a good color that would suit a girl's nursery. But then Max said that we should go with something neutral because that way we wouldn't push gender specific expectations onto the baby when she was born.

We went in for our first ultrasound and it went really well, but the baby just looked like a tiny peanut. Max and I both cried, but I tried to pretend like I didn't. The first trimester went by pretty fast and Max stopped being so nauseous all the time and actually started getting crazy cravings. When we went in for another ultrasound at week eighteen where we actually got pictures of the baby where we could see what she looked like. Max cried again, but I was able to keep myself under control. Kate and Chloe came over that same day to celebrate and Kate told Max that singing and talking to the baby would help with development and also get her used to our voices.

Later that night, Max and I were sitting in the couch and I was talking to her belly. Well, to the baby, but I might as well have been talking to her belly. Max was definitely showing by now, but not as much as I'd seen most pregnant women show at this stage. Max was giggling as I spoke and holding my hand.

"And remember that, no matter what, mommy is always right, ok?" I said gently, making Max laugh.

"Hey, that's gonna get confusing," she said jokingly. I scoffed, mock offended.

"No way! This way she knows that we're both always right," I replied, kissing Max's fingers.

"You're such a dork," she giggled, pulling me up to kiss her. I smiled, leaning into the kiss. I moved my hand up her side, starting to get into it. She bit my lip and tugged a little at my shirt. I was about to take it off when the doorbell rang. I pulled away and got my shirt back on correctly, getting off the couch.

"If it's Chloe I'm just going to slam the door shut again," I said as I reached the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see my mom standing on the porch, a gift bag in her hand. We locked eyes and it took me a moment to close my mouth again. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the doorframe. "Yes?" I asked, trying to hide the fact that I was actually kind of glad to see her. Yeah, my mom was a bitch, but she was still my mom.

"I heard that Max conceived," she said dryly, matching my mood to a t. Well, I learned from the best, I suppose. Being cold and unforgiving was our thing. I just hoped it wasn't genetic. Max walked over and smiled nervously.

"Oh, Mrs. Chase, please come in," she said, trying to sound more excited than she felt. I stepped aside, letting her in even though I didn't want to. The last thing I wanted to do in that moment was get into a fight with my mom when my baby could hear it. Even if she couldn't understand it. She gave me a nod and followed Max in.

"Please, at least call me Amanda," mom said softly, letting her guard down a little as she spoke to Max. Max had that effect on people. Her mom was the same way, easy to talk to, hard to keep your guard up around. "I came because I wanted to apologize to you both for the way I've behaved. You were right, Victoria, I was wrong and I should've considered my words before I spoke them." I still had my arms crossed, staring at her coldly. I didn't say anything. There was nothing I really could say. My mom had never admitted to being wrong before, especially not to me.

"It's really ok, Amanda," Max said, filling the silence as she took a step toward my mom, but she was standing between us, giving me a glance. "Victoria was just upset. I'm sure that we can work this out, I mean, don't we want this to be ok again?" I hated when Max tried to make peace like this because she always sounded like she was making the right decision by trying to make things right. Our fights never even lasted that long because she would just end up listening to me vent and then come up with a solution.

"I really am sorry to both of you," mom said, slowly holding out the gift bag. "I brought something for the baby." I started to loosen up a little, but my jaw was still tight. I let my arms fall to my sides and I took the gift from her hand, watching her carefully.

"What is it?" I asked, looking down at the shimmering bag and purple tissue paper.

"You'll have to open it to see what it is," she said, smiling a little. I looked from the gift to my mom and then over to Max who was smiling at me encouragingly. I sighed and opened the gift, pulling out a small, blue and pink quilt that was no bigger than my torso. I set the bag down and look at the quilt in surprise.

"Mom, this isn't…" I trailed off, looking up to see her smiling at me, tears in her eyes. This was the blanket my grandma had made for my mom and that I had used and that she had always promised to give to me when I had a baby. It was old and frail looking, but it was clean and comforting. The smell was so familiar that I wanted to wrap myself in it. My mom took a step toward me and cupped my cheek with her hand, kissing my forehead. I saw Max sit down on the couch, watching us with a smile on her face. I looked into my mom's eyes and couldn't help smiling.

"I want you to know that I'll always be here for you," she said gently, letting her hand fall to squeeze my shoulder. "I'm sorry that I made you feel unaccepted and that I treated your relationship like it didn't mean anything. I'm going to be here to help you now, no matter what." I let out a shaky breath and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tight.

"I love you, mom," I said shakily, letting tears roll down my cheeks. She wrapped me up in a hug and kissed my cheek.

"I love you too, my beautiful baby girl."

My mom threw Max a baby shower and helped us pay for the nursery. My dad came around sometimes when he wasn't busy and Max's parents were going to be sleeping on our couch during most of Max's third trimester. Or at least the end part. Kate and Chloe came to visit sometimes, but not too often since my parents were usually around and they really didn't like Chloe and she wasn't exactly understanding about it. But Max still went out to eat with her every week. Max and I had taken to going on walks to get away from the parents and to help Max look for good stuff for her photos.

The third trimester came around a little slower than the second, but everything was good with the baby and Max was totally healthy which were all good things. Max's mom had suggested that Max have the baby at home which quickly prompted my mom to go on and on about how her granddaughter was not going to be born in someone's house like a surf back in the middle ages or something like that. Max and I had just sat on the couch, watching the fight play out.

Max and I were sitting in bed reading more pregnancy books later that night. She was about 28 weeks so she was a lot more physically uncomfortable than usual. She kept shifting against me, groaning and mumbling how all she wanted was to get comfortable. I sighed and moved away, getting a whine of protest from a very sleepy and uncomfortable Max.

"Hey, don't leave me," she whimpered, making grabby hands at me. I smiled, giggling and kissing her softly.

"Relax, lay down and I'll massage your feet a little," I said, motioning for her to lay down. She smiled and laid down, looking a little more comfortable as I massaged her feet. She closed her eyes and let out a soft moan of contentment. I bit my lip a little at the sound, trying to hold myself back. We hadn't really done anything for the past couple weeks because of all the parents coming and leaving, but it was late so Max's parents would be asleep on the pull out bed in the living room and my parents had gotten a hotel room.

"That feels amazing, Tori," Max breathed, pulling me from my thoughts. She had that look on her face where she was biting her bottom lip a little and her eyes were closed. I felt a wave of heat rush through me and I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from saying anything too sexual.

"Who knew you'd get so much pleasure from me rubbing your feet?" I said jokingly, avoiding looking at her face because it was driving me insane.

"I wish you'd massage me in other places," she said suggestively, making my eyes snap up to meet hers. She was biting her bottom lip a little and looking at me with those eyes that made all my insides go molten. I smirked, kissing up her leg. She was wearing shorts because of how hot it had gotten recently. She gasped sharply, watching me as I made my way up to her thigh. I smirked, biting down a little. She moaned softly, closing her eyes for a moment before looking down at me again.

"Get up here and kiss me," she said firmly. I obliged, meeting her lips and biting down on her lip a little. She moaned, tangling her fingers in my hair. She must've been holding all of this in for a long time because she was kissing me like she hadn't even seen me in years. I let my leg move up between hers and she started rubbing up against it, moaning louder and louder each time. I pulled away, moving my leg away too. She whined and I grinned, helping her get her shirt off. When it was off I went straight for her breasts. She grabbed at my hair, pulling me close as I kissed and bit at her exposed flesh before moving down until I got to where her shorts met her skin. She gasped sharply, one hand still in my hair, the other holding my left hand.

"Do you want me to do this?" I asked, meeting her eyes. She nodded quickly, squeezing my hand. "What about your parents? Do you think you'll be able to be quiet?" She swallowed hard and paused. I took that as a no, pulling down her shorts and panties anyway. I tossed them aside and then moved back up her body. "Now just try to be a little quiet, ok?" I whispered, moving my hand down her body. She let out tiny, uneven breathes. I kissed her neck, feeling her pulse jumping in her veins.

"Please fuck me," she breathed, sounding desperate. Damn it, I was gonna have to service myself at this rate. I thought that I might be able to get her off and not have to worry about getting too turned on, but I guess that plan was going out the window. I kissed her softly, my hand making its way over her belly when I felt something hit my hand.

I jumped, almost falling off the bed and Max was sitting bolt upright, her hand on her belly.

"Oh my god, did you feel that?" She gasped out, looking from her belly to me. I smiled and started laughing, moving back to put my hand next to hers. I felt a tiny bump against my hand and giggled, smiling uncontrollably. I was speechless. "Tori, our baby moved. Our baby girl." Her voice was low and soft and she was smiling so big that it made the whole room glow. I smiled at her and kissed her cheek, leaning my head against her shoulder. She eventually got dressed again and we snuggled, falling asleep at some point.

The baby grew really fast after that and Max got more and more uncomfortable as the days passed. She was super happy and had this glow about her that made her look radiant, but she was also sort of miserable. She was at about 37 weeks so she waddled if she walked anywhere and she was always too warm, complaining about how hot it was. I did everything I could to help her get comfortable, but I was reaching the end of my patience. Especially one day when it was unbelievably hot and my mom had been nagging me all day and Max had been complaining and her mom had also been nagging me.

Max and I got in a fight. It was just something stupid about how the dishes were supposed to be loaded into the dishwasher, but it was enough to get me needing a break. I just left, getting in my car and driving. I didn't go very far, I was really just driving around a nearby block. I took long, deep breathes, managing to calm myself down fairly quickly. Then I started to feel guilty. I looked down at my phone, which had been in my hand when I left, I saw that it was vibrating on the passenger seat. I picked it up and saw that Max was calling. I answered, feeling guilt and nervousness rise in my chest.

"Hey, Max, I'm really sorry. I -"

"Tori, you need to come home now," she was breathing heavily and she sounded scared. I swallowed hard, fear filling me.

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked quickly, making a sharp u turn and speeding down the street.

"My water broke and no one else is home," she said, groaning a little. "Oh, god, fuck." She sounded like she was in pain. I felt my heart racing in my chest, panic filling me.

"I'm on my way, just sit down," I said quickly. "Stay on the phone with me, though. I'm almost home."

"Please hurry," she said breathlessly. I swallowed hard, clutching the steering wheel.

"How far apart are the contractions?" I asked, trying to get a grip on things.

"I'm not really sure," she replied, her voice sounding a little strained. "I've been ignoring them all day."

"You…" I paused, taking a deep breath. "You've been in labor all day and you didn't say anything?" I asked as calmly as I could manage.

"I thought they were those fake ones," she replied, laughing a little. I rolled my eyes, laughing a little, either from hysteria or from the comment, I couldn't really tell.

"Of course you did," I said, finally pulling into the driveway. I hung up and ran into the house, grabbing Max's already packed suitcase (because I was prepared, duh) and helped her out to the car.

"Wait, my camera," she said, turning around to go get it. I grabbed her shoulder and lead her the rest of the way to the car.

"I will get the camera, just sit down and cross your legs or something," I said, running back in the house when I was sure she was in the car. I found the camera on her bedside table and ran back out to the car with it in hand. I jumped in and put it on the dashboard before strapping in and backing out of the driveway. "Did you call anyone else?" I asked, trying to get to the hospital quickly but not so fast that we got into any accidents. We already had a one reason to be going to hospital, we didn't need more.

"No, just you," she replied, gripping at the seat. She let out a long breath and a groan. "Owww." I took her hand and she squeezed my fingers pretty hard.

"It's ok, we'll be there soon," I said, trying to stay focused on one thing at a time. I had to push my panic down, channel it into focus.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you," she said breathlessly, holding my hand tight. I sighed and shook my head.

"Max, you didn't do anything wrong, ok?" I told her, taking my hand from hers and stroking her hair before squeezing her shoulder. "I'm sorry that I overreacted and left. That was stupid of me. I'm really sorry. I'll never do that again."

"It's ok," she said softly and smiled at me. I smiled back for a moment. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly. We got to the hospital and got checked in and all was well. Max said she had been in labor since around ten that morning and it was about three in the afternoon when her water broke. She was in labor for another few hours. In which, my parents, her parents as well as Kate and Chloe were contacted and all arrived. I left Max's side just to greet and let them know what was happening and that everything was fine, but then I practically ran back to Max's room.

I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. Max saw me and smiled, her hair matted to her face with sweat and her eyes sort of dull and tired. She reached out a hand to me and I took it, standing next to the hospital bed she was laying in. Groaning softly, she leaned her head against me. I smiled softly and knelt down, kissing her forehead.

"You doing ok?" I asked weakly. My head was spinning I was so nervous and scared, holding Max's hand tight. She chuckled and rolled her eyes at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just giving birth to a giant," she said, suddenly gripping my hand so tight that I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from cursing. She had her teeth clenched and her eyes screwed shut and I suddenly regretted focusing on the pain my hand. When the contraction passed, she let out a sigh and relaxed in the bed. "No biggy, right?" She asked, still trying to catch her breath. I swallowed hard and nodded, kissing her hand.

"I'm right here, ok?" I said softly, trying to sound calmer than I felt. She giggled and kissed my cheek.

"Relax, Tori," she said with a smile. "You don't have to look so freaked out." But I was freaked out. I was so freaked out! Max was having my baby and all I could do was sit there like a helpless idiot. "Everything's gonna be just fine. Just take a deep breath." I nodded, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"How are you so calm?" I asked, finally regaining myself. She shrugged, taking a deep breath.

"I guess I've crossed over the line from panic to calm, you know?" she chuckled, shifting a little. I laughed a little, smiling at her. I really wasn't even sure if all of this was real.

It took another hour or so before our daughter was born. She was so small and fragile looking that I wasn't even convinced that something so small could create so much stress. She was a little over seven pounds and was a little smaller than average in the length department, but she was healthy and she cried louder than any baby I'd ever seen. After I cut the cord and the nurses got her all cleaned up and checked out, we got to hold her. Max held the baby in her arms, looking down at her with tears in her eyes.

"Hi there," she whispered, running her thumb gently down the baby's cheek. "Look at you, all small and adorable. How dare you be so beautiful?" Max's voice shook, but she was smiling uncontrollably. I sat in the chair next to the bed, watching her hold our daughter. She had little tufts of blond hair like me but had bright blue eyes like Max. We sat there for a little while, talking softly to the little person that we'd made, before people were allowed to come in the room and meet her.

"She's beautiful, Max," my mom said, smiling more than I'd ever seen her smile before. My dad just nodded, looking away to hide the tears that welled up in his eyes. Max's dad cried openly, babbling on about when Max was born and how today was one of those days that would change his life forever just like that day had all those years ago. Max's mom just gave us both a kiss in the forehead before requesting to hold the baby. She whispered to the baby, saying things that were sweet and soft in the same voice Max had. After the parents got a chance to hold the baby, it was Kate and Chloe's turn. They'd left Matthew with a sitter so he'd have to wait and meet her for a couple days. Kate held her first, trying not to cry.

"What a little blessing you are," she whispered, letting the baby grab onto her finger. She giggled and kissed her forehead, smiling uncontrollably. Chloe held her next, calling her ass kicker, much to my parent's displeasure. Max and I laughed and Kate held back a giggle.

"What are you guys gonna name her?" Chloe asked, handing her to me. I held her close looking down at her sleepy little face. It had been a big day for her, being brought into the world and everything.

"We haven't really decided yet," Max said, smiling at me. "What do you think, Tori?" I looked up at Max and smiled at little, looking back down to the baby.

"I think Emma is a good name," I said softly, watching the baby's eyes open a little before she shut them again, gripping onto my shirt. "Welcome to the world, Emma. We all love you very much."

I never knew just how much I would love Emma, but it was more than I'd ever loved anyone before. Max and I had started our family and it was one of the best moments of my life.


End file.
